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Sorcerer City of Notarikon

Across the bay from the great city of Paragonia and marking the start of the Great Western Road lies the Sorcerer City of Notarikon, splayed out across the sands like some bizarre gelatinous creature lifted from the depths of the ocean. Easily rivalling the size of the Capital of the Empire even before the Cataclysmic Wars, Notarikon lays claim to the most efficient and well developed irrigation and sewage systems on Elatreus. It was also the first city to openly use electricity in the form of a city-wide power grid; its invention made possible through deep study of magic and technology and has made it the envy of the modern world, with many attempts made by the Empire and other civilizations to emulate its use, but so far without any significant success.

Most of the city is made of stone buildings that did not rise above five stories tall. This was intentional, for in the center of the Sorcerer City lies the sky-scraping building its citizens refer to as the Spire. This same building remains the tallest building in all of Elatreus and is home to the ruling council of 12 Archmages, responsible for regulating and controlling the study of magic across all of Elatreus.

History of the Sorcerer City

Records show that the Sorcerer City of Notarikon was built upon an already existing city-state on the far eastern edge of the Kingdom of Parthania once called Torion. This independent city-state, Torion, would have likely faded into history if not for a single event nearly 2000 years ago.

For in the year 950 B.E. One of the last of the enigmatic Qahoori Nomads, Enkil, made his way to the fledgling city-state, offering his services to the King of Torion. The King accepted the Qahoori’s request, giving him the title of Court Sorcerer and authority as the King’s advisor.

Enkil the Qahoori

Returning the King’s favor, Enkil taught a few members of the royal court deep secrets of magic and founded a great library above and beneath the city, henceforth referred to as the Grand Archives. The Grand Archives doubled as a magical fortress, protecting some ancient Qahoori text Enkil brought along with him as well as numerous other magical tomes he personally wrote over the centuries to follow.

In this same period of time, many nomadic Elves arrived in Torion. These nomadic elves were banished from the Elven Homelands thousands of years ago for violating the Elder Laws, allegedly by daring to innovate, invent, and experiment with magic in ways that did not correspond to said laws and in defiance of nature and their people’s definition of magic according to the Elder Tomes and disturbingly reminiscent of the events that lead to the fall of the Shadow Elves during the war in heaven.

These exiles, hearing of a Qahoori who seemingly shared a similar experimental mindset to exploring and experimenting with the limits of known magics, were drawn to Torion as a month to a flame.

These exiles were allowed to live in the city by its King, as advised by Enkil, and they carried out their studies under the watchful eye of the Qahoori, who they thanked and referred to as the Great Teacher.

As the next 200 years passed, Torion slowly began to change. As more and more inquisitive minds and people talented and willing to study magic flock to the city an official ‘Council of Archmages’ began to form. The Torinian royal family and royal court became less and less relevant, as they could not handle Torion’s influx of magic casters as well as the council could. Finally, the last King of Torion ceded his authority to the Council of Archmages – becoming little more than a figurehead. This momentous event in the year 750 B.E. marked the foundation of the Sorcerer City of Notarikon.

The next few centuries marked the golden age for the Sorcerer City. Under the leadership of the Council of Archmages, Notarikon prospered and became the largest city in the continent at the time, nearly rivaling the size of modern-day Paragonia. This made it necessary for Notarikon to have its own standing army, and with Great Teacher Enkil’s assistance, the City-State created the first generation of Sentinels around the year 500 B.E. which acts as the city’s army, law enforcement, and guards for centuries.

And yet, the royal family of Torion aren’t the only people who became less relevant. Enkil, the Great Teacher and founder of the Grand Archives, became more and more reclusive after the King of Torion ceded his authority to the Council of Archmages. And finally, in the year 200 B.E. Enkil disappeared from Notarikon and the annals of history. Neither his destination nor the reasons for his departure were ever known even by the Council of Archmages. Even today, the Council still attempts to find his whereabouts, sending expeditions every few years to all corners of Elatreus and beyond for any signs of their Great Founder.

In the years after his disappearance, the Sorcerer City of Notarikon maintains and protects its neutrality in the matters of the world. The city enjoys its unique status as neutral grounds and a place of high academia among the other nations of Elatreus. For over a century, Notarikon made full use of its golden age.

Until the year 31 B.E. rolled by. The same year Shazn’Oegtol, First and most famous of the Deathknights, found the Brand of the Fallen and ignited the Catalysmic Wars that engulfed all of Elatreus.

The Cataclysmic Wars

The Deathknight’s relentless campaign against the Kingdoms of Elatreus would have remained unchecked, if it weren’t for the actions of one orphaned farm-boy turned General and Holy Warrior who had been chosen by the Allfather himself to wield the Brand’s good counterpart, the Flame of the Host, and lead the armies of the Aelutian Empire against the evil Kingdom of Thane led by the Deathknight.

The Paragon, as the orphan farmboy came to be known, faced many difficulties in his first few years as the leader of the Aelutian Empire’s great armies. He had justice and righteousness at his side, but little else, and as a result he lost many battles and even more good men against the armies of the Deathknight, who had grown powerful by wielding the Brand of the Fallen far longer than he did.

It was during these desperate times that the Paragon heard of a rumor. A rumor portraying a woman wielding powers so unnatural it was unknown whether she controlled that power, or that power controls her.

This woman was Kira. One of the 12 Archmages of the Sorcerer City of Notarikon. The Witch of Notarikon.

With few options left and convinced that this Witch held the knowledge he needed to achieve victory, The Paragon and his commander Elias Rodin rode to the Sorcerer City to find this woman.

Notarikon’s status as a neutral city state made things difficult for the Paragon and his commander. While entering the city itself was easy enough, none of the Archmages granted them audience and every time the two attempted to enter a governmental building they were escorted out by the Sentinel Guards.

Yet much to their surprise, when she finally decided to grant them audience, she agreed to aid the Aelutian Empire’s crusade against the Thanish Kingdoms, though her own reasons remained unclear and in clear defiance of the Sorcerer City’s policy of neutrality.

For years, the Witch and the Paragon worked together to stop the Deathknight from destroying the world. Their leadership was tempered by wisdom, and the Empire began pushing back the Thanish Kingdoms…

In the meantime, far away from the battlefield, the Council of Archmages began fighting their own political battles. Immediately following a failed reconnaissance mission to ascertain the condition of the Great Library of Khartoum currently occupied by the Thanish army, the Deathknight himself sent an ultimatum to the Sorcerer City, promising their destruction after Silverleaf falls.

After several tense court sessions, the Council finally decided that an alliance with the Aleutian Empire would be the best possible course of action.

It was during this exact moment that the Cataclysmic Wars reached its zenith.

At the start of the year 23 B.E., the Deathknight summons the gargantuan Golgoloth, bringing it into the world by combining a portion of his dark soul with the power of the Brand, and it rises up from the sea to serve his army.

Just as the Golgoloth heaves into view of a terrified Silverleaf, the Paragon and the Great Wyrm arrive and a battle of epic proportions breaks out between the two giant beasts.

The Great Wyrm defeats the Golgoloth, but is badly injured in the fight and flies away as the Deathknight and the Paragon fight for the second time. Much stronger and more confident than before, the Paragon even manages to wound the Deathknight in the leg, but this drives his opponent into a murderous fury and the Paragon falls, severely injured, losing his left eye, shattering his cheek bone and partially disemboweled..

Before the Deathknight can finish him, the Deathless Witch steps forward and using guile and magical powers not seen since the War in Heaven, did the impossible. She, a woman neither chosen by the fates nor favored by the gods, became the first person to defeat and humiliate the Deathknight, a being of pure evil prophesized to be invincible to all but the wielder of the Flame of the Host.

This single event further encouraged the alliance between the Aleutian Empire and the Sorcerer City of Notarikon. The Council of Archmages alongside the Aleutian Empire’s own imperial court planned to cement this alliance by arranging marriage between the Paragon and the Deathless Witch after the Cataclysmic Wars were over.

Fate, however, would not have any of this.

For soon after the Cataclysmic Wars were over, one tragic event changed the course of history forever. Kira was selected by the council of Arch-Mages to lead an experiment to tap into the limitless power of other dimensional energies, but despite her experience, raw power and knowledge, something went wrong at the worst possible time.

And instead of drawing the energies, perhaps hovering on the borders of reality waiting for a chance, having seen two other Golgoloth come through, the failed spell opened a rift in time space and ushered in KURZATCHAL, the Life Ender who tore the city to its very foundations.

So many precious tomes of knowledge and magic were lost forever, never to be re-learned. After the great disaster at Notarikon, the newly-founded Aleutian Empire annexed the Sorcerer City, bringing the once-independent city-state into its borders as they try to salvage whatever tomes remain.

The Edict of Paragonia and the Imperial Mage Capital of Notarikon

It took decades before the Empire could rebuild Notarikon to its former glory, but the Sorcerer City was no more. With the threat of the Thanish Kingdoms and the Deathknight held at bay in the wake of the Cataclysmic Wars, the Paragon turned to ensuring that such a catastrophic incident that destroyed Notarikon could never happen again, distilling his formidable wisdom into the mighty tome known as the Edict of Paragonia. This text became a major part of his legacy and the cornerstone upon which the future of the Imperial Mage Capital of Notarikon as well as Elatreus’ stance upon Arcane Magic would be based.

The Edict of Paragonia is a set of sacred tomes second only in holiness to the Elder Tomes itself. It is a set of strict rules, edicts, and guidelines designed to prevent any catastrophic disasters or incidents caused by magical spells. The set of rules primarily constrains and controls the teachings and sanctioning of spells above the 6th Tier, where any mishap can prove just as disastrous as the Tragedy of Notarikon. However, the Edict of Paragonia also outlines the ideal for the moral behavior, organization, tactical doctrines, and application of magic casters both in times of peace and warfare.

Upon the Edict‘s implementation, in an event that would rename the former Sorcerer City into the Imperial Mage Capital as well as change its status to that of a Protectorate of the Empire much like Pomedica, each of the newly elected councilors retained their ranks, responsibility, and some level of political primacy amongst their peers. However, since the Imperial Mage Capital is no longer an autonomous city-state, the new Council of Archmages report directly to the Imperial Court and the Aleutian Empire’s Royal Family.

In addition, the Archmage Council is required to supply a certain percentage of their yearly trained magic casters to the Aleutian Empire’s army in order to serve as battle mages according to the annual tithes as decreed by the Imperial Court, subject to changes as determined by said Court. Furthermore, members of the Archmage Council will serve as court sorcerers to the Royal Family, providing magical protection, scrying, and other magical-related services as required by the Royal Family.

Aside from the aforementioned changes to the city’s political standing, status, and laws, the Imperial Mage Capital of Notarikon still maintains its status as a place of high academia and deep study of magic. Even today, many sorcerers, wizards, and magic casters from all the corners of the world flock there to study magic.